Research is trying to prove if certain Australian chickpea varieties can puff without using oil

ABC Rural: Laurissa Smith

Australian-grown chickpeas could find a new home in India's growing snack food trade if a study shows they can puff without oil.

The research at Charles Sturt University in southern NSW is evaluating certain varieties of chickpeas for their puffing qualities.

The project, led by PhD student Soumi Mukhopadhyay, says puffed chickpeas are already a common snack food in India

"The puffing, is like making popcorn, the good thing about this process is we are not using any oil," she said.

"We are puffing it and roasting it in the hot sand, so for the health conscious consumers these are really good."

Associate Professor of Food Science, Chris Blanchard, says the prospects for Australia to increase its exports to India is promising.

"Fortunately in the research that we've done so far, we have identified some Australian varieties that puff well.

"If we can make sure that we're producing varieties which taste as good as Indian varieties and hopefully better than our competitors, then we think there's a really good outcome for the chickpea market in Australia."

The research has the financial backing of the Grains Research and Development Corporation, which is trying to improve the quality and export potential of Australian desi chickpeas in the Indian subcontinent and globally.